We had a great week in first grade!  Last week we had four days.  This week will be our first full week!  Here are a few things we have been working on -

Math - We started working on math.  The math series starts out with counting from 1-5, and then 1-9.  We've had a kindergarten review so far.  The students have been practicing writing the numbers correctly and on the correct lines.  We have been using linking cubes to make towers and number cards to make the numbers with the linking cubes.  So far we have been working on side A during class and doing side B for our wake up work.

Reading - Wow!  We have already started working on Daily 5.  We have worked on read to self, read to someone, and the listening center.  On Friday we practiced building stamina by going through all three rotations.  This week we will introduce work on writing and word work.  I plan on administering Fountas and Pinnell reading assessments this week and next week.  F& P is a running record.  It will tell us the students reading level, comprehension level, and accuracy level.  After running records are finished and I know all of their levels we will be able to start running Daily 5 with reading groups and centers.  Reading at home - It is recommended that students read 20 minutes a night.  That could be your child reading to you, you reading to your child, or a combination of both.  :)  We will also be having reading buddies with our fourth grade friends on Fridays.

Practicing Read to Someone

Phonics - We are working on reviewing all of the letters, keywords, and sounds, as well as tapping out words.  We are working on CVC words.  (Consonant, Vowel, Consonant)  We have started using our dry erase boards for dictation and our magnetic tile boards.

Writing - We have started writing by writing in our journals.  We have also had practice by using sentence starters to write stories (and illustrate as well!)  We are working on putting the letters in the correct spaces, starting with a capital letter, using lower case letters in the correct places, and using punctuation.

Religion - We read the Creation story out of the Children's Bible.  We then watched a short video of the Creation story.  We are working on creating our own Creation story books.  We started working out of our Religion textbook.  Our first few pages have been about Jesus as our friend.  We have mass every Friday.  You are always welcome to join us at mass!  :)

Science - We have started an Einstein science unit about weather.  So far we have talked about what we know about weather and using our senses to learn about weather.  This week we will start our weather calendar.  We will be recording cloud cover, precipitation, and wind.

Social Learning - The beginning of the year we talk a lot about rules, expectations, and how to treat others.  We read the story Have You Filled A Bucket Today? and have had lots of discussions on how to be a bucket filler or a bucket dipper.  We made class rules and have made a chart on what a great classmate does, says, is, and what they aren't.  We've also talked about the zones of regulation (see picture), the size of the problem, and following the group plan.

Here are a few more pictures from last week -

We made sunglasses.  They are a reflection of our summer!  Each student drew things in their sunglasses that they did on summer vacation.

Here is our finished class puzzle!  It shows we all need to work together.  We are all a piece of the puzzle!

These are pictures of us creating our rainbows!  The rainbow project tell us words that describe us.  They turned out super cute!

Have an amazing week!  :)

We had a great first few days of school here in first grade!  On the first day of school we made a chain out of 180 links.  The chain represents how many days of school we have.  Each day in first grade we will count up the days of school and count down the days that are left.  To make the chain the students had to work together as a team!  It was a lot of fun!

On the first day of school we read a book called First Day Jitters.  After we read the book we talked about how we were feeling about the first day of school.  Our choices were happy, sad, excited, and worried.  We graphed our answers on the SmartBoard.

We made a class puzzle in first grade.  The puzzle is divided into 13 pieces - one for all of us.  Each person decorated their own piece.  When each person was finished the students had fun putting the puzzle together.  This puzzle shows that we are all an important piece in our class!

Every student had their picture taken on the first day of school!  Enjoy these photos!

Looking forward to week 2!  Have a great week everyone!

Hello! Welcome to the 2018-2019 school year! I have copied the information
letter from supply drop off onto our classroom blog. Looking forward to seeing
everyone in the morning!
Have a great night! :)

August 2018

Hello!  Welcome to first grade!  Here are a few things to know about first grade.

Snack - The students will have a snack in the morning.  It is not a community
snack. Please pack a small, healthy snack with your child each day.  
(Including the first day of school.)

Water Bottles - The students may bring a water bottle to school.  Please make
sure their name is on it.

B.E.E. Binder - The students will be bringing their binder back and forth
between home and school every day.  The binder will stay in the students’
mailboxes duringthe day.

Homework - We will have some homework in first grade.  Here is what we
usually have:

Spelling - In a month or so we will start spelling.  The students will get a list on
Monday and have a test on Friday.  Math - The students may have some math
homework.  This is an unknown for me right now. The other GRACE schools use
Math Expressions, so I am familiar with that program.  Holy Cross uses Saxon,
so we will have to see where we are with homework in this program as the year
progresses. Reading - Your child should be reading 20 minutes a night.

Book Orders -I will send out Scholastic Book orders throughout the year.  The
online ordering info will come with your first book order. If you would rather have
me place the order, you may send a check to school.

Blog - I communicate with our families on a classroom blog.  I try to update the
blog at least once a week. I usually post our spelling lists, center activities, weekly
updates,homework, pictures, etc.  Each time I post I will send you an email with the
link. The blog address is www.ressullivan.blogspot.com.  I haven’t posted anything
yet about this year, but feel free to check out some things that happened in
previous years in first grade.

Volunteering - You will have opportunities to volunteer in our classroom if you
wish.  I welcome people to help out with daily 5 and writer’s workshop. We will
also have a few field trips and will be looking for chaperones.

Donations - Throughout the year we may need to restock some of our centers
and supplies.  We are always in need of blank cards, envelopes, and stickers.
As we get low on items I’ll post a wish list on our blog.  Thank you in advance for
helping us out!

If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact me.  You can call
school (468-0625) or email me at jsullivan@gracesystem.org.

I’m looking forward to a fantastic year at Holy Cross Catholic School!

Mrs. Sullivan  :)

One last set of pictures!  Hope you are enjoying the first weeks of summer!

The first grade graduates

And...of course...a silly picture

 

The final milk ring total - 1,739!  That's a lot of milk rings!

A picture before field day began!  I wanted to get an after picture, but I didn't get a chance.  They were hot, sweaty, and tired out by the end of the day!  :)  It was such a fun day!

Math - The yellow group is working on addition and subtraction stories up to ten.  The green group is working on 2D shapes, basic fractions, 3D shapes, and they will end this week with measuring.  The red and blue groups are learning about money.  They have finished the first grade book and will get a taste of what the second grade book is all about!  

Reading - Wow!  Are you as impressed as I am?  I love looking at the progress first graders make from the beginning of the year until the end of the year.  The progress is absolutely amazing!  They come to first grade - some not even reading.  They leave first grade reading and reading and reading.  Daily 5 is one of my favorite things.  I get to see first hand these kids read in small groups.  I get to see the light bulb turn on.  I get to see those a-ha moments.  Wow!

Writing - I can say the same thing as reading.  I look back to where they started and to where they are now.  It is phenomenal!  When first grade began, many students didn't spell correctly, know when to use punctuation, when to use capital vs. lowercase letters, etc.  They know that now.

On the first day of school the students wrote about their day.  This week the students wrote about their day.  The differences in the two writings are incredible.  On the first day of school most of the students wrote one sentence.  Some students wrote one word.  This week - they wrote paragraphs.  They filled the page.  Some kids even wrote on the back. And the illustrations that go with the writings?  Wow!  Just wait until you see the difference!  I'm going to put the two writings in their report card envelopes to share with you.  

Phonics - This week we learned about 2 syllable words.  We learned about closed syllables and vowel-consonant-e syllables.  We learned about 2 syllable words that end in -ic.  We learned that the spelling is ic - not ick.  If it is a one syllable word, the spelling is ick.  Again - this year in phonics - they have learned so much!  They have learned short vowels, long vowels, digraphs, blends, closed syllables, v-e syllables, vowel teams, r-controlled vowels, bonus letters, glued sounds, and the list goes on and on!

Science - We are finishing up our organisms unit.  We have had lessons comparing and contrasting the plants, the animals, and the plants and animals.  The organisms unit has been so much fun!

Religion - We are finishing up our Promise books.  The final unit we have been working is called Mary is the Mother of the Church.

***Leader of the Pack - Our final class goal was 300 Leader of the Pack slips.  We earned that today!  The reward the class decided on is a board game day!  We will have our day on Monday, June 4th.  The students may bring board games from home.  We will take some time in the afternoon to play games!  :)

Math - The yellow group is working on story problems of addition and subtraction up to ten.  The green group is working on telling time.  They have learned :00, :30, :15, and :45.  Today we worked on time in 5 minute increments.  The red and blue groups are working on two digit addition with regrouping. 

Reading - Our word work focus is nouns and verbs, as well as common and proper nouns.  All of the running records are done for the year!  :)  We continue to work in our reading groups and work in the daily 5 centers.

Writing - On the first day of school we wrote and illustrated what we did that day.  Today we wrote about what we did today, the weekend, or something similar.  We compared the writing, punctuation, lower/upper case letters, handwriting, and illustrating of the two writings.  It was amazing!  The students loved seeing their growth!

Handwriting - We finished our book and sent everything home.  We have one more task - to write all the upper case and lower case letters correctly.  :)

Religion - We are working out of our book.  Our current parable was the parable of the Good Shepherd.  We have also been working out of our Promise workbooks.  We are just about finished with them. 

Phonics - We are learning about two syllable words that have one closed syllable and one v-e syllable.  (example - dislike, rosebud)

Science - We are finishing up or organisms unit.  We still have our terrariums and aquariums.  We are doing lessons on comparing and contrasting the plants and animals in each container.

Social Studies - We have learned all the states and capital.  We know two songs.  The kids are loving the state books we have in our classroom.  Many students are using the state books to work in the writing center fantastic facts.  This week we also learned a few things about our presidents and Washington DC.

The Book Mobile came!  

Friday is Field Day!  Everyone need to be dropped off and picked up at Res.  If your student needs to be bussed back to the St. Matthew Campus for after school care or the Y Program please let me know.

We had a fantastic day at The Building For Kids.  Here are a ton of pictures.  Enjoy!

The kids worked so hard on their Mother's Day projects!  I hope you enjoyed their water fall books, Mom writings, and painted flower pots.  They were so excited to give their presents to their Moms!

*Tuesday, May 22nd - The Bookmobile is coming to school!  If your child would like to check out a book, they may bring their Brown County Library card.  The children will visit the bookmobile for a story.  They will also be talking to us about the summer reading program.

*Wednesday, May 23rd - Friendship Mass - All students are to be dropped off at Res.  They will be take the bus back to the St. Matthew Campus after mass.

*Friday, May 25th - Field Day - All students will spend the entire day at the Res Campus.  Team colors were sent home in an attachment in the newsletter.